# turning player_db and match_player into builtins..

(thomas@xs4all.nl)
Fri, 20 Sep 1996 12:53:54 PDT

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    On Fri, 20 Sep 1996, Sergio Costa wrote:

    >   I was just wondering if that was at all possible...
    >   I mean hacking the C code to include both things..

    It's possible, of course (anythings possible on Unix, certainly with C ;)
    but i doubt it will be easy, bugfree, speedy, or smart. Main problem would
    seem to be the time usage. Certainly, it will be (lots ?) faster than the db
    one, but it will only take one tick. MOO itself isn't multitasking, merely
    taskswitching, so a large player_db in server and all accompanying
    functions, could create massive lag-spurts. Whereas verbs in-db can (and big
    ones must) call either suspend() or read(), which gives other threads a
    chance.

    More bad things: how were you planning on putting it in the server ? you
    would need a lot of new functions, a few for the player_db, a few for the
    match... and you'd need a few more builtins. Maintaining a list like that in
    server also isn't a joke. you have to keep your pointers in check, your
    array bounds, etc.

    Also, there already is a version of player_db in-server. you can access it
    with 'players()' :-) player_db was created to allow match_player, and lots
    of other verbs, to access such information, and also to link it to other
    info. (players() returns only object numbers). Lastly, it's kind of silly to
    put it all in-server. the DB already IS in-server :) By putting these
    functions in-server, you create _another_ DB, with an alternate way of
    accessing it... Are you sure you want that ?

    Regards,
    Thomas.